30.9

2006-08-19 

I awoke this morning to the gentle touch of a hand on my arm.  It was Ásgéir standing over me in the gloom.  Gloom?  It must be the middle of the night.  " It's just ten minutes after four".

I'm now sufficiently awake to know that today we need to be away at 5.  Last night the car was packed. Yesterday, I'd gotten four of its seats out of the way so as to fit three bicycles and various bits of holiday gear. 

The last few days have been rather frantic.  Ouida's garden had to be started.  Our own needed the essential maintenance which would allow it to look after itself for the next three weeks.  We would be away til early September.  Hence the early awakening.  We had three quarters of an hour to put all the remaining bits into the car, get a cuppa and go.  It was 5.10am as we set out, which against the original 5am was par for the course. 

An hour and a half later, we pulled into Fleet services with seventy miles under our belts and almost three hundred to go.  The break ended at 7.15am and we pressed ever westward til the half way mark at Ilminster.  9am.  Four hours on the road and halfway with breakfast under our belts can't be bad.   And we have not met with lemmings yet, though we noticed their presence about Stonehenge, where I explained to Ásgéir what "rubber-necking" meant, i.e. that lemmings always slow down to look at such as Stonehenge or a fatal accident .